ITT female scummers talk about their periods - KEEP OUT

[Bins]

Also, I started birth control early this month. Honestly, I think it's causing me some pain during sex, so I'm a little worried and hoping that's just a first few months sort of thing. If it stops my cramps though, for me, it's complete worth it.

[Haylen]

Certain birth controls can cause vaginal dryness, Bins. Maybe try more foreplay and some lubricant

Update: I'm out of surgery. It was supposed to last 40 minutes but I was in there 5 hours as they found problems.

I have severe endometriosis and scarring from this. It was everywhere, they have no idea how they didn't spot it on the ultrasounds. So they removed all of this, managed to save my whole reproductive system. They removed a lot of polyps that they didn't see on the ultrasounds either. They removed my Dermoid and have sent it to the lab for malignancy testing because it had suspicious characteristics, looked very nasty and had grown since I had my scans. I'm worried about that, the testing will be done urgently though and he's given me a 3 week sick note. I'm in pain but it's nothing compared to what the endometriosis was causing me.

13 years later, I've finally got a diagnosis and I'm so happy. It's tragic that it's taken so long.

All because doctors don't believe you can get it if you're under 30.

[Bins]

That's a super good idea. Thanks!

I'm so glad they figured it out. I'm glad you pushed for it, holy shit. I always get so demoralized when doctor's tell me there's really nothing I can do but wait to see what happens (just happened a few days ago wee). And I'm glad they were able to remove everything safely and that pain is gone!

[Haylen]

Being put in the hypochondriac box and told I was exaggerating my so many doctors really got to me. I can't quite believe that I've finally got a diagnose after the fight I've been through to get one. They said there was 20% chance of them finding Endometriosis that hadn't showed on any ultrasounds. Then they go and have to spend 5 hours cutting it out of me. It sounds stupid but I'm worried that if I stop thinking about it, they'll take it away from me. Or I'll wake up and have dreamed it all. I've still got my patient ID bracelet on to remind myself I'm not dreaming.

I feel so let down by medical professionals. They refused to even examine me until a year ago. Thankfully, they didn't need to remove my ovaries or uterus because I would have gone apeshit. I'm still waiting to find out if I can have kids in the future - I know it reduces fertility.

The tumour, I'm really worried about. My surgeon also specialised in gynae oncology (female cancers) and said he was very concerned about it potentially being malignant because of its features. He's getting it analysed urgently and is seeing me soon. I keep crying because frankly this is so unfair. If they had listened in the beginning this might not have happened. And I know I'm bring stupid about it but that's how I feel right now. Whatever it is, I'll fight it obviously.

[saporovirus]

This is a very common thing to be misdiagnosed because doctors don't believe women because patriarchy.

[Amrun]

I’m bumping this thread because I miss it.

Ever since my periods returned in earnest after childbirth, they’re awful.

The pain actually isn’t bad. Pre baby, the pain was bad and I thought my flow was heavy.

Post baby, I never know flow could be this heavy. The first time it happened bad was in April. It was on the day of our cross country move. I couldn’t control the bleeding at all - no intervention worked - I couldn’t sit down lest I bleed on an apartment we were trying to clean and empty. I slept on a shower curtain for three days. It really sucked. I called my OB, but due to me moving, I couldn’t go in. She changed me off the mini pill to nuvaring since I stopped breastfeeding. After starting that, the subsequent periods were bad but more manageable with tampon + double maxi pads changed very frequently so I could attempt to function in life. Since we were moving, my new health insurance didn’t start until June. I made an appt in May but it wasn’t until July.

OB said “call me if it happens again like that and we will do an ultrasound.” In September, on my baby’s first birthday, it was a disaster.

I work closely with physicians and there was no hiding it. The OB’s office was telling me to go to the ER and it pissed me off. I just wanted to have my ultrasound and bloodwork done outpatient. I’m medical staff and I knew that while this was a problem, it wasn’t an emergency and it was a waste of time and money to go to the ER. Since it was a Friday, her office closed early and they never checked with my doctor, just generically told me to go the ER because I was exceeding bleeding guideline capacity for outpatient. I really had no choice because I needed a CBC run that day for sure. It could have been done outpatient but sigh... The physicians I work with don’t treat me but advised me to go since I was kind of stuck, and I was totally ashen and dizzy. My PCP didn’t want to override the specialist, which I respect. So off to the ER I went, on my baby’s birthday.

I was so dehydrated they spent hours trying to place an IV for fluids and get blood, and ultimately had to call someone from home who was not even on shift to come do it with an ultrasound machine.

Even so, my CBC was normal (predictable) and my ultrasound was normal (even more predictable since I’d just had a c section where they’d definitely have seen fibroids). All normal, normal, normal, dx dysfunctional uterine bleeding, drink fluids and see your OB, see ya.

Like I know I’m burdened with medical knowledge but it was so frustrating because I missed my baby’s FIRST birthday for an entirely foreseeable series of normal exams. The fluids were arguably necessary but honestly, my skin was still elastic, and I could easily have rehydrated at home. The April period was far worse and I treated myself just fine.

A week later, my dad died. Irrelevant but adds to my mood.

I go to my ER f/u which was also unnecessary (doctor agreed) and she just gave me a bunch of samples of nuvaring and said to skip my period with it because we don’t need this to be happening. Ok, great.

October went well - no period.

November has fucking sucked. I’ve now been bleeding OVER two weeks with no sign of stopping. It’s now a light flow but it never fucking ends. I called to touch base and again, without consulting the doctor, they are forcing me to come in (in two weeks when it will be irrelevant again). They had the nerve to say I was non compliant because I didn’t do my ultrasound, which was already done in the ER, they’re just morons.

I’ll get there and she will say “wow, you’re such a good patient for coming to this appointment” again and make some other minor adjustment that 100% did not need a physical exam to do.

I’m fed up.

[shaft.ed]

Have you thought about looking for/removing fibroids or polyps?

My wife was having painful and long periods, got an MRI scan. They found lots of fibroids that didn't show up on ultrasound (ultrasound just found one giant one).
They were planning a hysterectomy, but the third doc she visited (first doc post MRI) mentioned that often time only the internal fibroids cause symptoms.
She had an outpatient procedure to remove/reduce said fibroid, and that cleared pretty much everything up.

Now about 2-3 years later, she started bleeding heavy again. She just had them go in to her uterus with a camera, fibroid hasn't grown back but they found and removed a couple small polyps, and that has reduced the bleeding again.

[Amrun]

I mean, I did consider that. I got an ultrasound. I hadn’t heard of ones that didn’t show on US though.

I had a C section and had to be scraped out in September 2018. Theoretically, wouldn’t any major issues be noticed then?

[shaft.ed]

I hadn’t heard of ones that didn’t show on US though.

My wife just had the ultrasound for diagnosis and based on that alone they were recommending hysterectomy.

When she got the MRI, the increased resolution found a lot more fibroids and could more accurately localize them. Basically only one gigantic fibroid showed up via ultrasound. She still has most of her fibroids actually.

I don't really know what scraping out entails, but with my wife, the internal fibroid that was causing her problems wasn't even that big, especially compared to the others she has. She tried removing it before the hysterectomy since the procedure was minimally invasive. The polyps she just had removed would have been even smaller.

I'm still livid about how casually her docs were suggesting hysterectomy.

[Amrun]

That’s nuts!

I also have likely endometriosis and PCOS. But that shouldn’t be why I’m bleeding like this.

They suggested a hysterectomy for my best friend from high school when she was 17. Her mom flipped shit.

[Amrun]

I’m also worried because I want to have another baby . Due to my other issues, I expected to have fertility problems the first go ‘round. Not sure if fertility concerns were overblown or if we just got lucky, but this bleeding doesn’t bode well either.

[Looker]

Goodness

[Plotinus]

That really sucks. I hope the bleeding stops soon and that you'll be able to have that other baby.

[Amrun]

That really sucks. I hope the bleeding stops soon and that you'll be able to have that other baby.

Can’t afford it yet regardless but I really want to give my son a sibling. he loves playmates.

[xofelf]

Oh those long periods where it just keeps happening even though you think it's done are the worst. The solution they gave me for mine when I kinda ended up with a period for 3 months was a hormone-releasing IUD. I don't have any actual bleeding at all anymore. I still get annoying cramps at mysterious times, but that was the only thing that stopped anything. PCOS is also something that runs in my family so extra awful periods are just what I know. Hopefully everything gets sorted out for you cuz that sucks

[Amrun]

IUDs make me nervous for some reason. It seems so permanent.

[xofelf]

I completely get that. I will say the insertion part was worse for me than actually having my son, who also a c-section baby, but like, better than endless crampy periods. I do know of someone who had an IUD for a long time and did choose to have hers out long enough to have another kid and she was successful on that front. So it's not as permanent a thing as it might seem. It's almost been long enough that within the next year I'm going to have to get a new one if I want to keep going with that, which I probably do. I like the simplicity of it really. I don't have to go in a bunch for the next dose or have to take something every day. Just every year as part of normal gyno checkups it gets checked on. It's probably not everybody's preference, but it's not as bad as it might seem.

[Amrun]

The “don’t think about it” aspect seems fantastic. I just have these weird fears of it getting lost or ruining my fertility or something.

You saying it’s the only thing that worked for you both makes me nervous and gives me hope.

[KittyMo]

that sucks amrun. I hope the appointment is more helpful than anticipated.

[xofelf]

Oh no, I understand that. I worry about that a loooot. Like, if there's times where I'm more crampy than normal I'm all sorts of concerned, or when I'm fighting off the hormone headaches(which at least didn't get worse than they were before) I have a lot of what ifs. But coming up on 5 years and there's been no problems actually show up, just anxieties being anxieties.

[springlullaby]

Can't add much on the medical side of thing because haven't had a baby but yes, have been stranded from one medical service to the next before with minimal result so totally feel you there.
Like I'm here for solutions, I understand that medicine is not perfect, but can you not a)treat me like a robot following protocol b)simply explain clearly to me what you think I'm having and if you don't know yet, just tell me you don't know yet.

You're not burdened by proficiency, people, even health professional, in general, just prefer the road of least resistance.
I have a family full of doctors of some sort, so I know what it feels like. Establishing a good rapport is more difficult basically because your standards are higher.

The fluids were arguably necessary but honestly, my skin was still elastic, and I could easily have rehydrated at home. The April period was far worse and I treated myself just fine.

Girl, that's no way to treat yourself. Yes, you weren't on the point of dying/fainting, but "just fine" is generally not fine enough.
You merit amply more than still elastic skin!
But I totally get you. I get into that place where I have all these things to do, goals that I've set up for myself, and I treat it as a personal offence that my body won't obey. Until I crash. Hard.
My therapist have been working on that with me over the last couple of month.
On a conscious level I'm totally bored by the "you should treat yourself more gently, you're hard on yourself, you're forcing yourself" tune. I'm just hoping that somewhere somehow a my brain will be nice enough to absorb the information unconsciously. Because even if I'm bored, I know it's true.
If it can save you some therapy/burn out.

A week later, my dad died. Irrelevant but adds to my mood.

I'm so sorry. My father died last year, I'm still not quite sure how I'm processing it.

Feel you and give yourself a lot of love. Because you have a lot going on.
Also I've noticed, but you must already know, that less stress generally means less cramps period wise.

Try to take a lot of rest over the upcoming holidays!

[Amrun]

that sucks amrun. I hope the appointment is more helpful than anticipated.

Thanks! Me too. It’s just frustrating because I also work in a medical office, and I don’t drive, and my husband works almost-opposite shifts. So one of us has to take off work, regardless of the timing. The baby must be picked up, no ifs ands or buts. Since we moved to a new city and started new jobs, my son has been hospitalized, and my father has died. Plus he’s a baby in daycare so he has had other illnesses, and 3+ ER visits because his medical history necessitates emergency checks more than most children his age. Therefore, it is hard to get time off, and jeopardizes my job especially. My husband’s job is slightly more relaxed. Even though he makes more money, I carry my son’s health insurance so it’s imperative I not be fired. It’s a tough line to walk.

Oh no, I understand that. I worry about that a loooot. Like, if there's times where I'm more crampy than normal I'm all sorts of concerned, or when I'm fighting off the hormone headaches(which at least didn't get worse than they were before) I have a lot of what ifs. But coming up on 5 years and there's been no problems actually show up, just anxieties being anxieties.

I also worry what if I don’t like it? I guess due to my PCOSmy hormones get funny on birth control. It’s supposed to help me but I don’t react the same to all birth controls, and I worry about one that lasts so long.

Plus a lot of BCs make sex less enjoyable for me.

[Amrun]

Spring: Thank you. I definitely live a high stress lifestyle and don’t take care of myself enough. I also have an auto immune disease, and we have moved to a new city, so having to find all new specialists after I’ve had the ones that went through the dregs of my years of diagnosis is so awkward. It’s harder for providers to navigate me as a patient. I have a convoluted, complicated medical history, and I am educated. In some cases, I am more educated on my own ailments than they are. I am the very annoying patient who will refer you to the latest article on the subject in X medical journal, and be right. So it is very hard to build that rapport.

I do like my new OB, though. We have a decent rapport. However, her office staff drive me bananas.

[Plum]

My periods are tame. I've never had more than the mildest pain or other symptoms. They are regular - between 28 and 35 days to a cycle. Going by my hormonal surges, they come exactly 14 days after my ovulation test kit predicts I've ovulated every month without fail. Everything about my menstrual cycles seems so regular and promising. And yet.

I want to conceive so so much. Thirteen plus months and nothing. My husband and I finally started the infertility process this month - at my age they basically won't do anything until you've tried for a year. I just think they won't find any cause they can point to and we'll just continue not conceiving (this essentially happened to my parents until they conceived me - and afterwards they had give kids with little to no delay conceiving each time). Though the first test we actually have done was a semen analysis and got results today and there might be a problem there, so I guess it's possible that both my body's fertility potential is normal and the fertility specialists uncover a specific medical factor in the infertility we're dealing with.

[Amrun]

Plum, I wish you so much luck. All the baby dust to you.

We anticipated so many issues. I used to work in a maternity ward and I’d come home and cry because it would never be me.

When we finally got married after being together 8 years, I stopped birth control, thinking I was starting my year off BC that I’d already discussed with the doctor. We conceived within 2 months. Still unsure if total fluke or not. That’s why I’m nervous about subsequent babies.